The Good Kid Revised
by flyingfishbird
Summary: After a fellow Marine is killed, it's up to the team to find the murderer. But when the foster daughter of the dead Marine is thrown into the mix, it gives everyone a surprise worth smiling about.
1. The Good Kid

"Tony! So help me, if you pick that straw up one more time I'll shove it up your-"

"But Ziva, your reaction is priceless. Therefore, I have no reason to stop." Tony said with a pampas smirk as he lifted the straw to his lips and sent a quick puff of air through the hollow object, sending a small wad of moisturized paper at Ziva's forehead. Instinctively, Ziva's arms swung wildly in front of her face, trying to stop the ball of saliva, but to no avail. The scene caused Tony to burst into a fit of mindless laughter as tears nearly welled up in his eyes.

Tony's laughter was short lived as an enemy spitball found its way to the corner of his mouth, where it made impact and remained. He looked around in a sort of frenzy until his eyes rested on the now chuckling McGee. In mock laughter Tony said, "You think this is funny Probie?" The question remained up in the air as Tony tried to peel the childish spitball from his face which only caused another chuckle that erupted into laughter from both Ziva and McGee. Tony looked confused until he saw the small container of Super Glue resting on McGee's desk.

"Now I think it's funny." McGee said with a grin as both him and Ziva exchanged air high fives. They watched as Tony scratched at the wad of glue now clinging to his face. The light moment faded fast as a new figure entered the bull pen.

"Grab your gear. We got a dead Marine just outside of Norfolk." Gibbs informed as he walked through the bullpen with little interest, but with a sudden stop he looked down at Tony and said, "DiNozzo, you got a little something right here." He pointed to the corner of his own mouth indicating where the 'something' was on DiNozzo.

Tony looked away from his superior with irritation. "Thanks boss…"

By the time they arrived at the apartment where the Marine mentioned was killed, Tony had rubbed nearly half of the spitball off, sending cold glares directed to McGee who he hadn't spoken a word to since they left the base. This didn't seem to bother McGee as much as Tony had hoped.

Gibbs gave everyone their jobs. McGee was taking pictures of the body and whatever seemed to be of importance, DiNozzo was examining evidence in the room of where she died which in this case was the bigger of the two bedrooms, Ducky and Palmer were determining the time of death which they found was around 4: 30 this morning and Ziva was left interviewing the husband with Gibbs.

At this point, the husband was a wreck. His name was Allan Frost, an architect who was allegedly working with a house five miles away during the time of the murder. He was a short, stocky man who had absolutely no visible facial hair whatsoever. There wasn't even a 5 o'clock shadow despite it being 7 o'clock now. It was almost like he shaved every few minutes although the hair on top of his head was thick, wavy and excruciatingly dark.

"What was your wife's name Mr. Frost?" Ziva asked calmly as she held a little pad of paper and a pencil as she waited for information worthy enough to be written down.

Between feeble sobs, Allan said, "He-Her name was L-Lilly. Lilly Fro-Frost." He moaned near the end of the barely discernable words and covered his face with his hands, as if shielding himself from the gruesome scene just feet away in the other room.

"Does anyone else live here?" Gibbs asked patiently.

Frost slowly took his hands away from his face and exhaled before saying, "Her foster kid…" He answered solemnly. "Her name is Robyn Porter. A problem child." He said with what felt like venom in his voice.

"You didn't adopt her?" Ziva asked, a bit confused at the hatred toward the girl.

"Well, I was around when Lilly adopted her. But as soon as I saw what a menace she was, I was going to send her right back, but Lilly refused. Told me to leave if that was really how I felt. But I loved Lilly, so I dealt with the kid."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"Nope. I never know where that girl goes. Lilly was always the one who kept track of her. If you ask me, I bet she has something to do with this whole thing." Frost accused.

"Did you call her and tell her what happened to Mrs. Frost?"

"No, I figure she already knows, or she will find out whenever she walks through that door. _If _she ever walks through that door."

"Excuse me for asking Mr. Frost, but did Robyn ever do something to cause you to feel this way about her?"

"It's just this look about her. Like she knows something we don't know, all the damn time. Like she's smarter than everyone. And she's always out doing something weird. I don't know what, but whenever she comes back, she looks angry. I think she's on drugs or something." Frost answered, an accomplished look on his face, as if he was relieved to get that out.

After a few more minutes of back and forth Q&A, the door opened, and an exhausted looking girl stepped through with a yawn. "Hey Lilly! I'm ba-"She cut herself off when she saw a team of NCIS agents fluttering around the apartment. She knew what that meant. She felt sick to her stomach at first as all the color left her face, making her dark red hair look even redder. She dropped the pack she had been carrying as her deep green eyes filled with unshed tears.

By now, the whole team was watching her, although unable to meet her eye. When she discovered the room that everyone seemed so preoccupied with, she realized that's where Lilly was. She started running towards the bedroom to find out if it was really true. To find out if the one person she really cared about was dead. She was stopped abruptly by McGee grabbing her in what felt like a vice-like bear hug, preventing her from going any farther.

"Let go of me!" She shouted as she squirmed violently, attempting to get away from McGee's strong hold. Then she saw the reason he was stopping her as her eyes rested on the pale, lifeless hand resting on the floor just inside the tiny room. That was when she stopped. Her stomach clenched so hard that she would have doubled over in pain if McGee hadn't been holding her.

Gibbs watched the series of events unfold and he immediately knew that this was going to be a very tough case.

The team finally arrived back at the NCIS base, bringing with them Robyn Porter after realizing that it wasn't a good idea to leave her with a foster father who didn't like her and in a place where her foster mother was murdered. Frost didn't seem to mind all that much.

They had tried making conversation with her the whole way back, but the only response they received was a heartbreaking silence. She hardly even moved other than her hands as they fiddled with an old compass.

Once they were in the building, Gibbs looked down at her as she looked down at the floor. "I know it's hard. But we are here to help. Understand?" His voice was calm and gentle, and for a split second, he thought he saw Robyn nod. He patted her on the head before leading her to what looked to be a conference room. He left for only a moment before coming back with a soda, placing it in front of her.

"Thought you might be thirsty." He said as he sat on the table just a few feet away from her. It took a few seconds before she reached for it, cracking it open and taking a sip. The acidic fizz of the drink burned her throat slightly on the way down. She hadn't had a soda in nearly two years.

"Thanks…" Was all that she could muster up. Even then, her voice cracked somewhere in the middle. It was strange to Gibbs. Usually people cried. He knew that she had come close, but she refused to let them fall.

"You're welcome." He said, glad to hear her speak. "Can I ask you a few questions about your mom?" He asked with a sense of care in his voice. She nodded in return, but he could tell that it was half hearted.

"Tell me about the last time you saw her."

There was hesitation before she spoke. "Well…it was last night. She was in the middle of making dinner when she got a phone call. I didn't think anything of it because she's always getting calls from her Marine buddies." She stopped for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she continued, "She sounded upset and then walked outside so we wouldn't hear the call. We all need privacy…right?" She sighed heavily, as if she was slowly starting to realize something. "Well, I went out to check on her because the food was burning. She never walks away from the stove like that. She was always really afraid of fire. When I went to check on her, something was off. She had a distant look on her face. She didn't say anything to me when I asked her questions, so I figured that someone had died in the line of duty, so I left it alone. That's the last time I spoke to her…"

"When did you leave the house?"

Robyn thought for a moment. "Around…1 o'clock. I do that a lot. They didn't care. I didn't do anything illegal, so don't worry about it." She said, not meeting his gaze.

Gibbs dropped the subject quickly. "We'll make arrangements of where you'll be staying tonight." Seeing the distraught look on her face, he got to his feet and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright. We will find the person who did this. I promise."

"Don't do that." She said quickly.

"Do what?"

"Promise. Don't do that. Everyone breaks promises. They don't mean anything."

Gibbs just sighed. "Alright. I won't promise. But I know we will catch the killer." He said as he walked out of the room. Robyn stood up and followed behind him, leaving the soda sitting on the table. They walked out to the bullpen where Robyn saw McGee rubbing his arm, wincing a little bit. This caused her to walk over, a bit ashamed.

"I'm sorry about your arm. I didn't mean to hurt it." She said softly, remembering that while she was squirming around, she had elbowed his forearm just enough to leave a nasty bruise.

McGee looked up at her, not expecting to see her even speaking. "Um, it's okay. No harm done." He said with a slight smile on his face, glad to see that she was getting a little better.

It was time for the team to retire for the night. Gibbs and Robyn were the last ones to go. It had been previously decided that since Gibbs had gotten her to talk in the first place, that he should be the one to provide a place to stay while the case was going on. While in the elevator, Gibbs looked at Robyn with a slight smile.

"I bet your mom was proud of you. I don't think you want anyone to know, but you are a pretty good kid."


	2. Cursing

As morning faded into night, Gibbs was doing his best to get Robyn to eat some dinner. Even a bite would have satisfied him, but she was relentless. They had been at Gibbs' house for only two hours and in that time, Robyn had barely said a word.

"Are you just not hungry? Or is it something else?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My best friend was just killed Gibbs…I'm sorry that I'm not hungry. And if you're asking if I'm anorexic, that's a no. But thanks for making me feel insecure, maybe I'll be anorexic now just for that." She said with her arms crossed over her stomach as she sat at the table. Her eyes never left the wood grained surface of the dining room table. Gibbs knew that she was just being sarcastic and stubborn but he looked worried anyway.

"Fair enough." He said simply. "I guess I'll eat by myself then." He poured the hot Chinese food onto a plate. The smell of chicken fried rice filled the room in what seemed like half a second. Gibbs sat down across from her at the table, breaking apart the chopsticks that always came with the meal. He noticed that Robyn was watching him, only for a moment before she got up from the table and took a seat on the sofa, having nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs. With the slightest of smiles Gibbs picked up the plate still filled with food, and placed it on the counter.

"Come on. I think I know something that could keep you occupied." He said as he walked to a door on the other side of the house. He heard Robyn's reluctant footsteps behind him as he opened the door, revealing a wooden staircase leading to the basement.

"A basement. Fantastic. Out of all the agents I could have stayed with, I'm stuck with the one whose hobby is luring children into his basement in the middle of the night." Robyn said, her voice dripping with sarcasm."You realize this is weird right?" She asked him with a slightly amused smile, thinking this was classic horror movie or tomorrow's news material. She heard Gibbs chuckle a little as he was already halfway down the stairs.

"Sometimes you just have to trust people." He said, not looking back to see if she was coming. She rolled her eyes as she started descending down the stairs, against her better judgment. She had a hard time trusting people. And who could blame her? In her whole life she never even trusted her foster mother, or as she called her 'her best friend'. In the nine years she had lived with that woman, she never worked up the courage to call her mom, and there was a reason for that.

Halfway down the stairs, Robyn saw what he wanted to show her. A boat, not even halfway build rested in the middle of the basement floor. The bottom of the boat faced the ceiling as its ribs met in the middle. At first, she didn't believe it. "Holy shit." Was all that she could think of to say.

"No unnecessary cursing." Gibbs reprimanded with a slightly amused smirk.

"Sorry…" She said, looking towards him. "What do you consider necessary cursing?"

"If I man comes in here and has you at gun point I might accept it."

"What if I stub my toe?"

Gibbs smiled. "I'll let it slide. Now why don't you help me with this?" He asked, although it wasn't really a question as she tossed her a sander. "With the grain, not against." Was the only advice he gave her as he started to get to work on the ribs of the boat. At first she was hesitant; terrified that she was going to mess it up when Gibbs assured her, "Don't worry. It's a sander. Not a chainsaw. You can't do too much damage."

She nodded as she looked at the sander, then at the boat. It was as if she was studying every detail and aspect of the boat. Almost like she was sanding it before the sander even thought about touching the boat. Gibbs watched, interested, beginning to realize how smart she really was. He wondered what she could possibly be contemplating when she finally made contact with the boat. A cloud of dust danced around in the air, following the movements of the sander against the wood.

Robyn suddenly stopped sanding which caused Gibbs to ask, "Something wrong?"

"When you're done with the boat…how do you get it out?"

"Tony! You said you would forget about the whole spitball thing!" McGee exclaimed obviously flustered. Tony, who now wore a band-aid on the corner of his mouth just laughed sarcastically at the angry Probie, who was not trying to get his hand out of the vending machine.

"Oh yeah. I guess I forgot." He says with a slight shrug, hiding his grin. "Well, we can let bygones be bygones and just let it go." Tony said, suppressing a burst of hilarity.

"Tony! Get my hand out!" McGee shouted, his hand starting to ache due to the pressure of the little door.

"Say please." Tony said with a smirk.

With a sigh, McGee swallowed his pride and said, "Please…?"

"Now that wasn't too hard now was it Probie?" Tony said getting behind McGee and started to help him retrieve his hand.

At that moment the sound of an elevator door opening was heard. Robyn and Gibbs stepped out of it, and the first thing they were greeted by was two men at a vending machine. One was bent over, grunting and making strange, suggestive movements that caused Robyn's jaw to drop. Tony glanced behind him, seeing Gibbs with a coffee in hand and a look that nobody could read, but it was nothing good. It disappeared quickly as it was followed by the classic Gibbs glare.

"Boss!" Tony shouted as he got as far away from McGee as he could with the little time that he had. "Um…McKlutz got his hand stuck in the vending machine and I was tryin-"Tony said exasperated, trying to explain before he was cut off by Gibbs.

"Just get his hand out and get to work before McGee has to report you for sexual harassment." He said as

and began walking away as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Robyn had just started inching away from the scene, holding back laughter as she saw Tony's face get redder and redder. She peeled herself away, finding no words that would make the situation better.

"Please tell me it was only Gibbs…" McGee said with a groan.

"Remember the kid from yesterday?" Tony asked, unable to even look at McGee now.

"Oh no…"

"Oh yes…"

As Robyn kept herself busy alternating between the forensic lab and autopsy, the rest of the team was busy working on the case. McGee, who now was the proud owner of a searing red hand, glared at Tony every few minutes, until finally he hung up the phone and said with all the triumph he could muster, "I found something!"

"What is it McGoof?" Tony asked, creating a new name for his colleague out of thin air.

At that moment, Gibbs walked up and listened to the newfound evidence.

"Well, I was going through Mrs. Frost's phone records and I found the last call was from her last scheduled Marine base. I talked to the man in charge of it and found out that she was supposed to be going to Afghanistan and report to the base for brief training before leaving. It was originally planned that she was leaving at 5 o'clock pm. The night before she was murdered."

"So why wasn't she there instead of at her house?"Ziva asked confused.

McGee shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense."

"She was trying to skip it." Gibbs said evenly. "The crime scene had clothes scattered all over it. It wasn't a struggle. She was packing." He explained.

"So why would someone want to kill her? Did someone find out?" Tony asked, slowly fitting pieces together.

"No. Even if they did, it wouldn't come to that." Ziva said simply.

"So, everyone thought that she was gone. What if that was what the killer was waiting for? What if it wasn't supposed to be her that was murdered? Maybe it was meant for Allan Frost?" McGee chimed in.

"No." Gibbs said solemnly. "The killer waited until she was gone to murder someone that she cared about. Allan Frost was a liar and a cheat."

"How do you know that boss?" Tony asked, a little surprised by that. The man had been the worst griever he had ever seen. He didn't look like a cheater. A liar maybe.

"He smelled like cheap perfume. His wife didn't own a kind like that." Ziva explained simply. She had noticed the same thing Gibbs had at the crime scene.

"So…that means that the only other person was…" McGee started but his face flushed before he could finish it as the realization hit him and the rest of the team. Nobody spoke for a moment.

"Nobody breathes a word of this to Robyn." Ziva said roughly. Everyone silently agreed.

"Tony, Ziva, bring Frost in for questioning." Gibbs ordered. They left and now only McGee and Gibbs remained, although nobody noticed that Robyn was just around the corner and had heard every word.


	3. Promise

It was a long time before anyone realized that Robyn was gone. So long in fact, that Frost was already being questioned in interrogation room 2. Everyone thought that she was down with either Abby or Ducky. McGee was the one who first discovered that she was missing after going down to talk to Abby. He found that Abby hadn't seen her in a few hours, which made McGee uneasy to begin with. It was when he went to see Ducky that he realized Robyn wasn't downstairs at all. When he got on the elevator he began to sweat, feeling the cold gray walls closing in around him, almost as if they were constricting.

McGee practically ran through the bullpen, only finding Tony.

"What's got you all riled up Probie?" Tony asked, leaning back in his chair with an amused grin.

"Where are Gibbs and Ziva?" McGee was breathless now.

"Interrogation…why?" Tony didn't receive and answer as McGee rushed towards interrogation, followed quickly by DiNozzo.

McGee opened the door quickly, seeing Ziva watching Gibbs interrogate Frost from behind the two way mirror. She spun towards McGee who looked like he was panicking. Before she could open her mouth to ask what was going on, McGee blurted out, "She's gone. We need Gibbs."

Ziva hesitated before responding. "He is interrogating. We will have to wait McGee."

Tony burst in behind McGee. "Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?" He asked, slightly out of breath.

"The girl is missing." Ziva answered, hiding the worry in her dark eyes. There was a long pause before Tony stepped in. "You don't think she heard us…" He didn't need to finish the question. Everyone knew exactly what the answer was.

Gibbs hadn't had a chance to make headway with Frost before he was called out of the interrogation room. At first he was furious but after he heard what had happened he immediately focused on finding Robyn. He partnered DiNozzo with Ziva and Gibbs was going alone. McGee had to stay behind with Abby and look for any other possible places she could have gone. DiNozzo and Ziva were going to check the school that Robyn attended and that was as far as they've gotten with what they know about the sixteen year old.

Two hours went by, then three. The team was running out of places to look. Originally they thought, 'How far could she have gone?' but now they felt like she could have made it to Canada easy. She was much more resourceful than they all had thought.

Gibbs was on his cell phone with both DiNozzo and Ziva at this point, going over where they had been and where they were going to look next. This wasn't good enough for Gibbs.

"Gibbs, it's been hours. She could be anywhere by now." Tony said with obvious frustration.

"She is the kind of girl who is only found when she wants to be found." Ziva added with the same tone of voice.

"Nobody is going home until we find her." Gibbs said with all the softness of a fully grown cactus. Just then Gibbs knew exactly where to find Robyn. "Nevermind. Call McGee and tell him to call it a day. You two, go home." Gibbs said.

"But bo-"Was all he heard before the phone was snapped shut and the line was disconnected.

If he were in Robyn's place, where would he want to go? There was only one clear answer. Home. Or as close to home as he could get. Turning the car around, he made it to his own house in less than fifteen minutes, seeing her sitting on the front steps, twirling what looked like a compass in her hands. She looked up, hearing the car pull into the driveway. The car came to a rest as Gibbs took the keys out of the ignition and walked over to her, sitting down on a step beneath the one she had claimed. Silence followed which Gibbs broke casually.

"The door is unlocked."

"I know…" She said. The amount of hurt in her voice was devastating.

More silence, then, "Have you been out here all day?"

Robyn shook her head. "No…I walked around for a while. Then I came here a few hours ago." Her eyes were bloodshot from what Gibbs believed was due to holding back her tears. She had stopped twirling the compass and now held it tight in her right hand.

"What is that?" Gibbs asked.

It took Robyn a second to figure out what he was talking about. She opened her hand and looked down at it. "It's just an old compass. I think it used to be my mom's…"

"You mean Lilly?"

"No." She said suddenly. "My real mom."

"What was her name?"

"I don't know…I don't even know if my parents are alive or dead. I've been trying to find them for so long that it just doesn't seem worth it anymore. "

"Why's that?"

"Because…what if they _are_ dead? Or they are crazy drunk people hiding the fact that they are a pair of serial killers. What good will that do me?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds like giving up might be the safest choice." Gibbs said with a shrug.

"I'm not giving up!" She snapped, suddenly angry.

"Then what are you doing?"

There was a pause before she said, "I just don't care anymore."

"Don't care? Or too scared."

Robyn got to her feet. "You know what? Yeah I'm scared! A man I lived with for years tried to kill me! He would have if I had been there! If I can drive someone that crazy, what makes you think that can't happen with my real parents? What if they hate me that much? That's why they gave me up! They couldn't stand me!"

Gibbs stood up and just looked at her for a moment. "Do you really believe that?"

She looked genuinely exhausted now. She had been trying to be strong for so long as her world was falling apart. Her icy blue eyes revealed every bit of hurt and anger that she carried with her every second of every day. "I don't want to Gibbs." She said her voice cracking. "But what else am I supposed to believe?" The tears wasted no time as they streamed down her cheeks.

Gibbs hugged her gently, allowing her tears to soak up in his suit. Robyn didn't know how to react. Hugs weren't common in her world and it caught her off guard, but she accepted it gratefully. Her ear was pressed up to his chest and she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat which slowly calmed her down.

"Find something to believe in that doesn't hurt." Gibbs said with surprising tenderness.

"Like what?" She asked in practically a whisper.

"Like finding a family one day that will love you more than your parents ever could." He said as he released her.

"Well…I always wanted a dog." She said, her humor returning to her.

Gibbs gave her a half smile. "Well there. Now you have something to look forward to." He said as he started to walk into the house, opening the door for her.

"Gibbs…" She said softly.

He turned and looked at her.

"Can you promise that when all this is over that we will still talk? You and the rest of the team, even Abby and Ducky. "

He nodded.

"It's a promise."


	4. The Parents

The interrogation lasted a little over two hours the next day. Robyn had made it very clear that she wanted to sit in on it. It took a while, but she finally convinced the team that she could handle it. It wasn't as hard for her as everyone might have guessed. She had Ziva, Tony and McGee sitting in there with her. They were all just having one big conversation about mostly nothing. They all had big grins on their faces. The team had grown to love Robyn and they were all turning into older brothers and sisters to her. Of course she didn't understand this now because every time she had a "family" it was taken from her.

The smiles disappeared all at once from the faces behind the mirror as they looked in the white walled room of interrogation. Inside, Frost was shouting angrily. "Yes! You know what, I did! But I loved that woman! She was in the wrong place at the wrong time! It was supposed to be that kid of hers!"

This caused Robyn to purse her lips. She had already known that, but hearing it from him stung just the same. She caught Gibbs glance quickly at the two way mirror, as if making sure Robyn knew that this guy was a lunatic even though he couldn't see her face.

"And why is that?" Gibbs asked calmly, turning back to Frost.

"Why? Well because. She didn't belong in that house. All she did was cause me and my wife to argue. And she always had something smart to say to me!"

"And that was enough reason for murder?"

"Don't judge me!" He shouted, jumping to his feet. "You try living with that for that long! I jumped at the chance to-"

Gibbs hit the metal table with the palm of his hand, causing Frost to become silent. "We are done here!" He roared.

Robyn felt a warm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. She turned her head and realized that it was DiNozzo. She looked around the room and realized that Ziva and McGee were both looking at her with a comforting expression. At that moment, Robyn suddenly felt like she was a part of a family, however unconventional.

Frost was in jail now which everyone was happy about. His trial was being set as soon as possible. But now Robyn had nowhere to go. She sat in Gibbs' chair, spinning occasionally with her arms crossed in front of her. The team would glance up at her to make sure she was taking all of this okay. Secretly, she wasn't. The last thing she wanted to do was to go into another foster home.

Gibbs walked up and leaned against the side of his desk.

"Remember our promise Gibbs?" She asked, looking up at him with her piercing blue eyes.

"Of course. How could I forget?"

"Just making sure… You guys are good at figuring stuff out aren't you?"

"We've been told we are pretty good." He answered, sensing the real point of this conversation coming on.

"Well, can you help me find my parents? I know that I might not like what I find out but I need to know. Closure I guess…If it will help, take this." She said as she handed him the compass that she constantly twirled in her hand. "It used to be my parent's I guess…"

"You will know who your parents are in less than a week. I guarantee it." He said with a slight nod, looking at the compass as he turned it over in his hands a few times. For some reason he thought he remembered it from somewhere.

She looked up at him, a bit surprised. "How?"

"My team is the best. They can solve anything. Even something like this." He said with unusual softness. But he could tell that this was not the only question that she wanted to ask. "Now what else is on your mind?"

She thought for a moment, deciding how to phrase it, but finally it just came out. "Why do you care so much? About me?" She asked, avoiding eye contact, afraid that he would just laugh at her. It was silent for a while before she finally looked up at him, afraid of what she would see. He was smiling. Not a big toothy grin, but the corners of his mouth were raised just enough.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't." When he didn't get an answer he just patted her head in a fatherly gesture and walked away, knowing that was all she needed.

Later that day, Gibbs went down to visit Abby and to get her to help with the investigation of Robyn's parents.

"Hey Abbs." Gibbs said, coming up behind Abby, making her jump.

"Okay Gibbs. I'm making you a bell." Abby said as she turned down the music that made Gibbs feel like he was being screamed at. "You got anything for me?"

"Yeah I do." Gibbs said, taking Caf-Pow and the compass from behind his back, holding them out to her. "I need you to get all evidence you can from this." He said, placing the compass in her hand and the drink in the other. She put the drink down on the counter and looked up at Gibbs.

"Sure. No problem. What am I looking for?"

"Anything," He said. "We are looking for Robyn's parents."

"Really? That's so awesome! I'll get right on it Gibbs."

He kissed her forehead. "I know you will Abbs." He said evenly as he left the room.

The day was dull. There were no cases to work on, which was a perfect time to start the search for the parents. Everyone was doing their own research, but everyone was coming up with the same thing. Nothing… It was like Robyn appeared out of nowhere. Actually, she kind of did. After a phone conversation with the foster home where Robyn lived for some time, they found out that when she was about four years old she knocked on the door and told the woman who answered (Molly Patterson) that her daddy told her that this was her new home.

"I remember that day so well." Molly said. "She was smiling and everyone took to her very quickly. Then after a few days she realized that her dad wasn't coming back and she started crying. That was the first and last time I saw her cry. I've never seen a child that old go through such a severe depression. It lasted until she was ten. Then she was adopted by a nice lady named…oh, I think it was Lori?"

"Lilly." McGee said on the other line.

"Right. That was her name. Lilly. I don't know what happened to Robyn after that. Is she alright? Did she do something?"

"No ma'am. We are just trying to figure a few things out. Did her father ever try to contact the home or her directly?"

"No…not that I know of."

"Okay. Thank you very much." McGee said, holding back a frustrated sigh as he hung up the phone. "Did anyone find anything? As far as I know, some jerk left her on the doorstep."

"That's better than what I've got. As far as I know, she just appeared." Tony said, leaning back in his chair, exhausted.

"Same." Ziva joined in.

"Great…"

Abby wasn't getting anything from the compass. She was getting frustrated just like the rest of the gang. As she was typing on one of her many computers, her elbow slid with the movement of her hands and knocked the compass on the floor. At first she thought it was no big deal as she looked down, getting ready to pick it up. Then she saw that there was a gap in the backing as it was coming off the actual compass. She gasped, thinking that she broke it. She picked it up carefully when she realized that there was a piece of paper coming out from the back. A secret compartment?

She unfolded the paper which was only a quarter sheet. On the paper was writing in black ink. She read it carefully. When she did, her jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what it said.

_Dear Jethro,_

_I can't even tell you how much Kelly and I miss you. It feels like you've been gone for so much longer than you have. But I have news. When you left, I was 2 months pregnant. You have another child Jethro. A baby girl. Her name is Robyn. She was born on February 17__th__ 1991. I can't wait for you to meet her. She has your eyes. Kelly loves being the big sister. All we need is you and we have the perfect family. Be safe and don't forget the rules._

_Love, _

_Shannon, Kelly and Robyn_


	5. Family

Abby was in a panic. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure of what emotions she should feel. Her heart leaped to her throat when she heard the doors slide open. She picked up the compass quickly, snapped the backing back in place and pocketed the letter. She spun around and saw Robyn standing there.

"You seem jumpy." She said with a slight smile. "What are you working on?" She asked.

"Nothing." Abby said quickly, pursing her black stained lips together. As she looked at her, she noticed just how many traits Robyn and Gibbs shared, especially the eyes. They were such a piercing blue that they seemed to look right through a person.

Robyn's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out why Abby was acting so strange. "Are you okay?"

"Never been better. Oh! Could you do me a favor and deliver these results to Ducky?" Abby asked as she grabbed a few random papers and handed them to her.

"Um…sure. What's it for?"

"Just for a case we are working on."

"I thought you weren't working on anything." Robyn said, looking at the papers, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Uh, that's because…I finished. Now I'm not." She said with a quirky smile.

"This looks like a shopping list." She said, showing her one of the papers.

"That's mine." Abby said as she took that paper. "The rest of them are confidential, so try not to look at them too much. Okay?" Abby said, hiding her uneasiness very poorly. Robyn certainly had Gibbs' quick intuition, which on other terms would be great, but right now it was causing severe issues with Abby.

"Okay…I'll be back…" She said as she started to walk out.

"It's probably a good idea if you don't come down here for a while."

Robyn looked at her for a moment, frustrated confusion on her face. She just nodded as she walked out towards autopsy.

McGee saw Gibbs walk out of the elevator, making his way to the bullpen. He got up from his seat and met him halfway. "Boss, Abby needs to see you. She said it was important."

"Did she tell you what it was about McGee?"

"No boss. But she sounded excited."

Gibbs nodded as he walked back to the elevator, leaving a curious McGee behind. He could only assume that it was about Robyn's parents.

Abby was not at the computer when Gibbs walked into the lab. Instead, she was waiting at the door as it slid open.

"Did you find anything?" He asked, walking around her, wondering why she seemed to be acting different.

"Yes I did Gibbs. I found out who the parents are."

"Well? What are their names?" Gibbs asked. He knew that Abby was good, but this just seemed too fast. He watched her take a piece of paper from her pocket and held it out to him.

"What is this?" He asked, getting irritated.

"Just read it Gibbs." Abby said, crossing her arms over her stomach. She watched him read the first sentence and sudden shock struck his face that only intensified as he continued reading.

"Where did you get this?" Gibbs asked, looking at Abby. She had never seen a look like this on Gibbs. It was confusion and disbelief, which was understandable due to the circumstances.

"It was in the back of the compass." She answered quickly.

"Let me see it." He said. Abby handed him the compass and suddenly he knew why it looked so familiar. He had given it to Kelly when he had to go away the first time. She had loved to put secret letters in the back, which she had found could come off and could easily snap back on. A half smile grew on his face as he looked down at the old compass.

"Are you going to call her down here?" Abby asked. She was relieved when she saw the slight smile, thinking that he wasn't going to take this well.

Gibbs looked at Abby and shook his head. "I'll tell her when I think she will take it best."

Abby opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she saw Robyn walk in.

"I know you don't want me down here Abby, but I wanted to say goodbye cause the social services people are here. Oh, and Ducky had no idea what the papers meant. Just saying…" She took a moment to look at the two of them. "What's up with you guys?" She asked, noticing that the both of them had weird smiles on their faces. Abby hopped over to her with arms wide, hugging her tightly, rocking them back and forth.

"Umm...love you too?" Robyn said, a bit confused by the sudden change in attitude. This morning she thought that Abby didn't want her around anymore, but now she wasn't sure if she should leave her alone. When Abby finally let go, she saw Gibbs standing there with the same look on his face, except there was a mix of pride in it also. He was the next to hug her, which surprised her a lot more than when Abby did it.

"Are you guys okay? Did something happen?" She asked when Gibbs suddenly kissed her forehead. This made Robyn's jaw knot tightly and her stomach clench. She wasn't used to people acting like this. No one ever showed her that they really cared about her this much. Not even Lilly. Hugs she was getting used to, but this was too much. She pushed away. For a second she thought she saw a flicker of hurt flash through Gibbs' eyes, but she quickly forgot about it, thinking that that small gesture couldn't hurt a man like Gibbs.

"Um…I really should go…" She said, looking away from the both of them before turning and walking out of the lab.

Abby looked at Gibbs. "You caught her off guard. That's all." She said, knowing that what she did really was like a slap to the face.

Gibbs just nodded towards Abby. Without saying anything, he put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead, as he had done with Robyn. Abby had been like a daughter to him for a long time, and part of him wanted to let her know that that wouldn't change. He left the lab shortly after Robyn. When he got up to the bullpen, Robyn was saying her last goodbyes, giving everyone awkward hugs because she was still nervous towards them. For a brief moment, she locked eyes with Gibbs, and that was all they needed for what she thought would be the final goodbye. She didn't expect to see any of these agents again and Gibbs knew it. And with that, the Social Service worker led Robyn out of the building.

…

Robyn felt sick to her stomach as she saw the foster home in front of her. The car pulled up along the curb before coming to a complete stop. She grabbed her suitcase as the door was being opened for her. Part of her wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the driver had been acting. Trying to make the trip as stress free as possible, but all he was doing was adding to the stress by making her remember what this ride was really for. She slid out of the car after unfastening her seatbelt. Gripping the suitcase tight, she made her way to the cold, white, paint-chipped door.

This wasn't home. The closest to home she had ever been wasn't even at Lilly's house. It was the warm, safe, forgiving home of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. There, all her problems didn't seem to matter, but here, it was like they ate away at your sanity until you turned 18 and were expected to live on your own with the last string of humanity you had left. Okay, okay, she was exaggerating things, but this is how she looked at it. This place was her personal Hell.

Deciding not to knock, she walked right inside. The place smelled of burnt bread and bad pizza sauce.

_ Spaghetti night._

If she hadn't already felt sick, she sure did now.

"Robyynnn!" Came the unnaturally bubbly voice of Molly Patterson. Just the voice made Robyn's nose crinkle with the bitter taste of old, forgotten memories.

"It's so good to see you again!" She said with such delight that Robyn knew that it was fake.

"Good to see you too Ms. Pat…" she said, knowing what was coming next. And sure enough, she felt the air slowly be squeezed out of her as Molly Patterson's arms wrapped around the small girl. It felt like hours before she finally let go to allow Robyn to gasp for air.

"Listen, Ms. Pat, can I just go to bed? I'm really tired."

"And miss spaghetti night? Are you sick? You must remember how much you love the homemade spaghetti here!"

She sure did alright. Except not exactly like that. She remembered the undercooked noodles and the makeshift spaghetti sauce that she was pretty sure was just ketchup mixed with diced tomatoes. And of course the veggie meatballs because real meat made little Bobby sick afterwards. Of course little Bobby was long gone…and Robyn was here…again.

"No…I'm just not hungry. And I want to unpack my things a little. Get settled. You know?"

Ms. Patterson looked worried, but finally nodded. "Alright. If you need anything, everyone's down here. You have the same room. You remember where it is, right?"

Robyn just nodded as she ascended the stairs in a sort of fog. She turned right. First door on the left. She walked inside and shut the door softly. She had no intention of unpacking as she slid to the floor, her back against the door. She kicked the suitcase away from her and it skidded across the hardwood floor. Downstairs, she could hear the other kids, laughing and poking fun at each other. She could never be a part of that, and they all knew it. The last group of foster kids that lived here didn't like her, and she was sure this group wouldn't either. She was exhausted. Not physically, but mentally drained. She looked at the bed and sighed as she got to her feet, walking over to it. She remembered the old bed being hard, with springs stabbing you no matter which way you turned. Maybe they got new mattresses.

_Nope._

She lay down, wincing a spring jabbed her in the side, but she dealt with it because there was nothing she could do. And she closed her eyes. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door. Actually, it had been two hours but it felt like she had only just blinked. She rubbed her eyes and walked to the door reluctantly, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. When she opened the door, she saw Gibbs standing there. She looked genuinely confused for two reasons. One, she was extremely tired and couldn't comprehend what was happening and two; there was no reason for him to be standing here right now.

"Gibbs?"

"Robyn, I need to talk to you about something." Gibbs said as he stepped past her, into the room.

"About what?" There was a pause and then her face lit up. "Did you find them? You found them didn't you?"

Gibbs gave her a half smile. "Let's sit down." He said as he motioned over to the bed, sitting down. The springs creaked in protest against Gibbs' weight and he realized how uncomfortable it was.

"Is something wrong?" Her face darkened slightly. "They're dead?"

"Sit down." He said again. It wasn't a suggestion and Robyn knew it. She sat down next to him and waited for everything to collapse around her when he handed her a small letter and her compass back.

"What is this?" She asked, too afraid to look at it to find out for herself.

"Read it," was all that he said to her.

` With a deep breath, she unfolded the paper and began reading. Not a moment later, the breath she had taken in was having trouble escaping. Her eyes went wide and she looked from Gibbs to the paper and back to Gibbs. She shot up from the bed and just looked at him. The sheer amount of emotion on her face was absolutely confusing to say the least. It was a mix of excitement, pain, anger and if Gibbs didn't know any better, relief.

"You're the one that left me?" Her voice was thin under the weight of deep-seeded hurt.

"No. I don't know who dropped you off here, but it wasn't me." He said as he got to his feet in front of her. "This is news to me too Robyn."

Now she wasn't sure what to feel. So, the smile on her face took her by surprise. But it faded and was replaced by a look of confusion. "But…when I stayed with you…my mom…my sister?" Part of her knew the answer but she needed to hear it.

Gibbs didn't answer for a long time. "They died. A long time ago." He said evenly as if he had said it one hundred times before.

Robyn contemplated those words for a while, keeping her attention to the wooden floors. She felt Gibbs' hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him with sad eyes.

"I know I'm just one guy. But that's a hell of a lot more than you had before."

She smiled at him, unable to express how happy she was. She had been alone for so long that right now, she felt like she was surrounded by people that she loved. The whole NCIS team, even though only one of them was here right now. She felt a part of something real and overwhelming. She felt warm and safe. It took her a moment to figure out just what all this was, and then she realized it and the exhaustion finally bubbled over in a river of tears that marked the end to all of her pain and fighting to keep her head above water.

She had a family.


End file.
